"Regional Memory in Kazan': Christian and Muslim Remembrance of the Soviet Period"

The project intends to explore the ways in which the Muslim and Orthodox communities remember the antireligious repressions, from which both groups suffered in the period of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as in the Khrushchev era. Our objective is to investigate the role these persecutions play in the memory of the two religious communities, and the ways this memory is taking place. Central to the project are the memories and stories of people who lived in Kazan in the 1950s and 1960s; elderly people with whom we have conducted personal interviews. The interview partners were believers of both denominations, atheists, as well as people indifferent to religion. Kazan's youth is also important in the context of the city's regional memory. For this reason, we have also spoken to about 25 religious students of madrasahs (Muslim religious colleges) and Christian Sunday schools. As a second focus, the project also explored the history of twelve chosen mosques and churches. Objects of both faith and politics, the religious buildings were often inaccessible for believers during Soviet times. Some buildings were used for different, profane purposes, others were destroyed.
The results of both focuses have been combined and published in an illustrated historical guide of Kazan, available in four languages. It is intended to inform inhabitants and visitors about this special part of the city's history and those events' place in popular memory. More information about the city guide are available at kazan-memory@inbox.ru. Our homepage also offers an overview over the results of the interviews and the historical research about the religious buildings on the site about "Present-day Memory".

The project is part of the "History Workshop Europe", financed by the fund "Remembrance and Future" and the Robert Bosch Foundation.